A Box Of Tissues For The NCAA

Screw the NCAA. Ha.

Ed. Note: Understanding the whole NCAA situation is no small task. Here's ProveIt with what we hope is his first of many guest posts here at ITS. Leave your thoughts and comments down below!

The laughable effect of the NCAA’s sanctions isn’t likely to give anyone pause. 3 scholarships a year for 3 years and a 1 year post season ban resulted in responses ranging from “…and what else? Over 1 year of investigation this is all?” to the ever popular sentiments “Bite me!”and “FFFFUUUU!”

What is less laughable is the rationale in the COI report (Committee of Infractions) though Tressel and the gear for tattoos there wasn’t anything new other than sanctions against Tressel.

The rest of the report starts with a false finding, and goes downhill from there…

Ohio State's 2012 Bowl Ban Isn't The End Of The World

Bowl ban? No biggie.

The pre-Christmas announcement of Ohio State’s 2012 postseason ban came as a shock to Buckeye Nation, who mistakenly assumed that the self-applied punishment of scholarship restrictions would absolve the program of all sins. 

The wave of Urban Meyer-induced euphoria that had enveloped Columbus over the last several weeks has subsided, and fans can finally look at the grim reality. A 6-6 season, with a loss in Michigan, is not a season worth remembering. A bowl ban for 2012 has hopes from Buckeye fans as gray as an Ohio November day. 

It doesn’t have to be that way.

Reaction Time: Ohio State Receives Bowl Ban

He's got to go

Bowl Ban! You’re kidding me right NCAA? I just want to get this straight before I move on. Ohio St. players trade some tattoos for signed memorabilia. Tressel receives and email that clues him in on the infractions which also lets him know the guy giving the tattoos is being investigated for drug trafficking.

None of the players are thought to be involved in the drug angle of this investigation but they are receiving tattoos for free or at a discounted price. Tressel drags his feet on letting anybody know because he realized it may cost his team valuable players for the upcoming season.

The email implicating the players is uncovered by the media and a shit storm ensues. Pryor bolts for the NFL. Herron, Posey, Adams, Whiting and Thomas all sit out various amounts of time because of the tattoo incident and some free golf and small appearance payments. Tressel is then forced to resign and Ohio St.’s 2011 season is basically ruined before it could even begin. The university vacates the whole 2010 season along with the only victory over an SEC team in a bowl game. OSU also takes away a number of scholarships from itself in an act of contrition to show the NCAA it means business. That’s the basic gist of the whole situation right?

Where in that paragraph did you see anything about hookers, drug use, drunk driving, booster payments to players or any other egregious act that takes place on college campuses across the country? I know there were mistakes made. Tressel deserved to lose his job over the lies and deceit he exhibited throughout the investigation with the NCAA. The university showed remorse over the situation and levied heavy penalties against itself. How does taking away post season play from players and a coaching staff that had nothing to do with any of it seem like a just punishment?

Breaking: Ohio State Receives One Year Bowl Ban

Throwing down the hammer. Seriously.

According to the Dispatch, Ohio State has been placed on a 1 year bowl ban for the 2012 season. The penalty means Ohio State automatically is out of the running for any bowl, or a Big Ten or national championship next year, just as newly appointed head coach Urban Meyer is wooing recruits to the Buckeyes.

Athletic Director Gene Smith said previously that while Ohio State has been declared a repeat violator that failed to properly monitor its football program, a bowl ban would be out of line with penalties handed to universities with similar violations.

In its ruling to be made public this afternoon, the NCAA Committee of Infractions will levy the bowl ban and two other penalties on top of the ones the university already imposed on itself, the sources said. The NCAA will:

- Strip four more football scholarships over the next three years on top of Ohio State’s prior forfeiture of five scholarships over that span.

- Add an additional year of probation to OSU’s self-imposed two-year probation for the football program, meaning any violations through the 2013 season could draw harsher-than-normal penalties.

If you haven't figured this out on your own, Gene Smith could probably have avoided this by simply banning Ohio State from the postseason THIS year. Instead, the juniors on this team, which include John Simon, Jake Stoneburner and more, won't be able to play in a bowl game if they come back for their senior season.

Update 3:00 PM: The NCAA has released it's official statement on the Ohio State penalties.

Update 3:15 PM: Gene Smith releases his official statement in response to the NCAA Penalties.
"We have decided not to appeal the decision because we need to move forward as an institution. We recognize that this is a challenging time in intercollegiate athletics. Institutions of higher education must move to higher ground, and Ohio State embraces its leadership responsibilities and affirms its long-standing commitment to excellence in education and integrity in all it does."

Keep checking Inside The Shoe for the latest updates on the NCAA Ruling, and Ohio State news.

Ohio State Set To Find Out Decision From NCAA At 3 PM Today

The time has come

It's being reported that Ohio State will find out its NCAA fate later today.

"Athletic director Gene Smith confirmed to The Associated Press early Tuesday that the NCAA's committee on infractions would hand down its final sanctions of the Ohio State athletic program at 3 p.m. EST.

The decision comes almost a year to the day since problems were first revealed in the football program. Five players were suspended last Dec. 23 for the first five games of the 2011 season for accepting cash and tattoos from the owner of a local tattoo parlor. Coach Jim Tressel was subsequently forced to resign.

Ohio State offered to vacate the 2010 season, return its share of bowl money and be on probation and have minor recruiting restrictions. The NCAA could add to those penalties."

Ohio State has already done the above, and then recently, placed themselves on a scholarship reduction.

The NCAA could accept or add to Ohio State's self-punishment, which included Jim Tressel's resignation, two years of probation, five reduced scholarships, vacating the entire 2010 season and forfeited its Big Ten bowl payout share, or roughly $338,000.

Ohio State has two options once the verdict is announced: Accept or appeal. Gene Smith has said that Ohio State is prepared to accept what the NCAA hands down.

Keep it at Inside The Shoe for the latest updates and news concerning Ohio State's fate with the NCAA. 

Ryan Shazier Emerging

Glorious

This season has been a rollercoaster ride from the beginning. It was apparent OSU wasn't really going to contend this year but I, along with many of you, tried to convince myself that this team had a chance to contend. After all this was Ohio St. and we still had the athletic cream of the crop in the big ten.

Unfortunately, many of those top athletes were suspended for more than half the season and our starting quarterback bolted for the NFL to hold a clipboard. It was OK I told myself. We had one of the top-rated quarterbacks coming in to replace him and a slew of young talent itching to see the field and become the next set of stars in Columbus.

The defense always played with a chip on its' shoulder and the running backs went almost 5 deep heading into the Akron game. It all sounded great in my head and looked even better on paper. Unfortunately that’s not how things have played out this year. This team has been extremely tough to watch at times. Beginning the year with Akron served as a temporary cloak as to what OSU really was. Things went downhill in a hurry after that opening game and culminated with the disaster in South Beach.

Ohio State Places Scholarship Sanctions On Self

Ohio State issued a release late this afternoon outlining new sanctions in connection with extra benefits provided by an OSU booster. The new sanctions include scholarship restrictions of a total of five scholarships over the next three years. 


(To dumb it down a little bit, OSU will not lose five scholarships each of the three years, just a total of five lost scholarship seasons over the three years.)


To give a short summary for what's after the jump, here's a bullet point list:

• Ohio State will lose 5 scholarships over a period of 3 years, starting in 2012.
• It's still unclear whether or not OSU will receive a bowl ban, and must wait for the NCAA final ruling.
• 5 total lost scholarships over 3 years is not bad at all, in our case. That means we'd have classes of 83, 83, and 84 for the next 3 years.
• These sanctions are given to OSU by OSU, so the NCAA can still add on.